President Donald Trump makes his way to board Air Force One before departing for New York City to attend fundraisers on December 2, 2017.

By Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images.

Friday was an admittedly discombobulating day for Donald Trump, the leader of the free world for the past 315 often hair-raising days. After 10 months of legislative failures, dismal approval ratings, party infighting, West Wing back-biting, the fear of nuclear proliferation, the looming threat of a government shutdown, and the oppressive Robert Mueller probe, the president’s colleagues in the Senate cobbled together just enough votes to pass tax reform legislation, and send their bill to the House for reconciliation. And while the president jubilantly celebrated on Twitter at 2:49 a.m., shortly after the bill passed 51-49—“We are one step closer to delivering MASSIVE tax cuts for working families across America,” he tweeted—he could hardly disabuse himself of the more somber news that his former colleague, briefly tenured national security adviser, and all around homeboy Michael Flynn had cut a deal just hours earlier.

On Friday morning, Flynn walked into a federal court house and pleaded guilty to a felony and promised to cooperate with prosecutors who are seeking to find out whether anyone in the president’s inner-circle worked with Russians or obstructed justice. Trump himself had been unable to contain his anguish. Hours after his jubilant tax tweet, he tried to diminish the matter. “What has been shown is no collusion, no collusion,” he told reporters before he boarded Marine One on Saturday en route to New York for a few hours of fundraising in his home town. “There’s been absolutely no collusion, so we’re very happy. And frankly last night was one of the big nights.”

This attempt to shift the conversation has mostly fallen flat. Cable networks, newspapers, and Twitter ubiquitously covered Flynn’s plea deal throughout much of the day. The Senate’s tax bill may have assuaged matters some, but the real good news for Trump was that he got a reprieve from the Swamp. On Saturday, the president headed back to his old stomping grounds, in New York City, where he participated in three fundraising events for the Republican National Committee. The homecoming appeared to breathe some life into the flagging, obstreperous commander-in-chief. “He needed this day,” one person who saw him on Saturday told me. “It was the emotional uplift he needed, to be around people who support him and appreciate and acknowledge him.”

During his first stop of the day, in the cavernous ballroom at Cipriani on 42nd Street, the president regaled several hundred people about his role in singularly helping the Dow Jones eclipse 24,000. (As my colleague William D. Cohan has noted, the Dow’s surge surge, while aided by the likelihood of tax reform legislation, is also likely a response to troubles within the bond market.) Trump recalled one man who thanked him for the market’s record tear. “One great gentleman came up and he said, ‘sir, I want to thank you,’” the president said. “I said, ‘What did I do for you?’ He said, ‘my 401(k) is up 40 percent.’ And I never thought of it. You know, I tell you, he gave me one of the great campaign lines. It's called: How is your 401(k) doing?”

Trump then moved on to an event at the Pierre Hotel before, finally, arriving at the home of Blackstone’s Steven Schwarzman on 740 Park, one of Manhattan’s most historic addresses. Trump and Schwarzman hit a bit of a roadblock this summer, after the latter grew concerned that the president’s tone-deaf and racist remarks in the wake of the Charlottesville riots were making membership in the business advisory council he led untenable. (The group ultimately disbanded.) But what is a little revolting rhetoric between old pals, especially given the specter of a 20 percent corporate tax rate? On Saturday afternoon, Trump and Schwarzman sat beside each other, over a lunch of asparagus and mushrooms tossed in a vinaigrette and topped with parmesan cheese, followed by chicken and holiday cookies in the shape of snowmen and christmas ornaments, according to a person in the room. They were joined by about 30 others—including real estate developer Richard LeFrak; hedge fund king Steven Cohen; real estate investor Steve Witkoff; Vector Group C.E.O. Howard Lorber; philanthropist and cosmetics executive Ronald Lauder; casino magnate Steve Wynn; plus Kellyanne Conway, Steve Mnuchin, and Michel Cohen, the president's long-time lawyer. At $100,000 a head, the lunch alone raised around $3 million, according to this person (R.N.C. official told reporters earlier in the day that they hoped to raise $6 million in total from all three events). Trump addressed those in the room, who were elated by the passage of the tax bill (analyses of the bill say that many of them stand to benefit from its passage most, while lower- and middle-income families get hit harder). Trump described the historic significance of this tax reform, the deals he made on his recent trip across Asia, and the way his presidency had been mischaracterized by the “liberal media.” A representative for the R.N.C. did not immediately respond to request for comment.

There was no talk of Flynn or the Russia investigation, this person said. “He needs to do this more, because when he gets to D.C., with the cast of characters that are there around him, they’re not loyalists. They’re not standing on their feet cheering him on,” this person added. “The love in the room for him, that’s a great thing for him.”